Of Schemes and Consequences
by The Alien of Pluto
Summary: One boring day for Finn turns the whole Condor upside down as one tiny little scheme results in dire consequences he never saw coming.
1. PrologueTeaser

It was a good day on the _Condor_, quiet. There were no Cyclonians, no missions. The Storm Hawks were floating around Atmosia, taking a break from their regular Sky Knight squadron duties. Everyone was doing their own thing.

Everyone else was happy.

Piper had stepped out for a second, scouring the Terra Atmosia market for crystals and other necessities required for her experiments. Junko had found himself a lawn chair and stationed himself inside the empty hanger with a good book and his extra-strength glasses. Stork, flying the ship around aimlessly, had his mind focused intently in oblivion, locked onto some bug/plague/germ-free daydream. Radarr was playing solitaire at the round table on the bridge, sitting next to Aerrow. The Sky Knight was covered in paint and glue, having recently purchased a model kit.

Finn, Finn was bored.

And everyone knows bad things happen when Finn gets bored. 


	2. Part One

**_So, yes, hello. This story's still alive. And I smushed it all together for the anonymous "_I don't give a feck_." (Thanks for the flame, gives me something to laugh at)._**

**_Anyway, enjoy the new but not necessarily improved OSaC. Thanks to ShubbaBANG for metaphorically kicking me in pants. Hope it's as good as the reviews make it out to be.  
_**

**_Y/P  
_**

* * *

He stood outside Piper's room, the navigator's door closed and locked. He knew it was wrong to go in when the door was locked, but Piper had broken into his room numerous times to steal his guitar; one time reversed couldn't hurt, could it?

All the doors on the _Condor_ except Stork's and a select few the Merb had decided were too risky to leave as is were locked with crystals. Breaking in, therefore, wasn't that difficult, especially if you'd already managed to swipe one of Piper's two Blocking crystals.

Finn grinned, pulling the green-blue crystal from his pocket. He looked down the hallway in both directions, making sure that no one was around to witness his crime. He held the crystal up to the door about mid-height on the left until the thick metal panel slid up, allowing his entrance. Finn quickly pocketed the Blocker, slipped into Piper's lab/room and looked around. He realized instantly that whatever crystal he'd hoped to 'borrow' for the day, finding it wouldn't be as easy as he'd hoped.

Finn stood in front of the door, inside Piper's room, gaping at the mess of stuff strewn everywhere. He'd never knew Piper to be so disorganized, letting crystals, and papers, and all kinds of strange instruments litter her room, hanging off chairs and on her bed and laying in haphazard piles on the floor. Finn groaned in defeat, considered just leaving now and finding some other form of entertainment; and then he saw what he was looking for. Actually, in truth, he hadn't known exactly what he was looking for when he came in here, but seeing the big white, shiny crystal poking out from under the navigator's bed, he knew he had come for that. Finn dove for the crystal, eyes lighting up with a small sense of victory and greed. He froze at a sudden intrusion in the silence, a scrape in the hallway outside. Suddenly fearing that he would be caught, Finn shoved the crystal into his pocket and jumped to his feet, slipping silently through the piles of junk and to the door. He leaned against the metal, listening for anyone coming or going or standing close by. When he determined there was no one, he snuck out of the room, down a couple hallways and back onto the bridge. Finding a seat at the back of the room on a crate, he bent to examine his find.

"Hey Finn, what's that?" Junko asked, coming out of the kitchen, his book in one hand, a sandwich in the other.

"Dunno," the blonde answered simply, dangling the white crystal between two fingers over his knee.  
"Oh" the Wallop walked over, absently dropping his book and sandwich in a pool of blue paint on the table as he passed. "Then, uh, why do you have it?"

"Found it."

"Where?"

"Why are you being so nosy Junko? I just found it!" Finn glared at his friend.

Junko leaned in, "Can I see it?"

"No!" Finn twisted around on the wooden crate, the crystal clenched tight in both hands and hugged to the sharpshooter's chest.

"Please? What does it do?" The Wallop asked, mildly offended, a slight pout on his face.

"I don't know," Finn admitted, "I'm trying to find out," he turned back to his original, more comfortable position, his guard temporarily down.

"I can help!" Junko volunteered, cheering right up. He grabbed the crystal out of Finn's hands, holding it up, twisting it around, trying to decipher its secrets that way.

"Hey!" Finn cried, jumping up and grabbing at the crystal.

He knew he couldn't break the Wallop's grip but he tried anyway, tugging this way and that as Junko tried the same without risking hurting his much more vulnerable friend. Junko held the crystal up higher dangling Finn in the air for a moment, but then the sharpshooter found the crate with his foot and stood on that. He gave a last pull, throwing all his weight into it and to his surprise, Junko let go.

Finn crashed to the floor, arms and legs flailed around at awkward angles and he was momentarily blinded by a bright white flash.

Aerrow was completely engrossed in the plastic model he was painting. He was hardly aware of the blue, red and white paint he was splashing all over himself. There was a long, blue streak down his right cheek, starting just below his eye and stopping right at level with his mouth, the rest of his face covered in tiny, irregular splobs of all three colours. He was only vaguely aware of the scuffle taking place behind him until he heard Finn cry out in surprise. Jumping to his feet, he was knocked immediately backwards by a hot, searing blast of white energy hitting his chest. Everything was completely silent for a full minute, until he opened his eyes. As light returned to his world, so did sound, assaulting his ears with the frantic cries of his friends and teammates. He smiled wide, looking up at the nervous faces of Junko, Finn, Radarr and Stork.

"Aerrow are you okay?" Finn asked.

"No," he answered, sitting up. He pointed to the spot where the energy had connected with him and, still smiling, he said, "it hurts right here. Like it's burning a bit. It isn't too bad, it's fading now. There, gone. Yes, Finn," he looked up at the sharpshooter, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure you're okay Aerrow?" Junko asked, guilt colouring his voice.

"I can't be certain," Aerrow said, "but at the moment I feel fine."

"Whew, well, I just want you to know I'm really sorry!"

"I understand, and I am grateful for your apology."

"Dude" Finn interrupted, his expression incredulous, "what's up with the way you're talking?"

Aerrow just smiled blankly at the sharpshooter, looking completely at peace; he didn't answer.

Stork jumped in before Finn could speak, leaning in close to Aerrow who didn't even blink at the sudden lack of distance between their faces, and thoroughly examined the young Knight. "You feel different at all, Aerrow?" he demanded.

"Not that I am aware."

"Do you know what happened?"

"I was hit with some form of crystal energy. It was white."

Finn held up the crystal for Aerrow to see, "You know what kind of crystal this is?"

"No"

"Oh, okay then. Stork?"

The pilot shook his head, his right eye twitching slightly. Everyone was startled when Aerrow moved; he'd been so still before. The obviously affected leader of the Storm Hawks pushed gently through the others standing around him and started across the room without a word or change of expression.

"Hey! Where are you going? We don't know what's happened to you yet!" Finn shouted, running to catch up with his friend.  
"I am going to see if Piper is back. If I ask Piper she will tell me what this crystal is and if she does not know she will research it for me. I think Piper is brilliant and wonderful with crystals. I think she is wonderful with lots of things" he walked around Finn and continued through the door and down the hallway.

Slowly, oh so slowly, an idea was forming in Finn's mind. He had a strong suspicion he knew what the crystal had done. He bolted after Aerrow, determined to test it out.

He caught up in front of Piper's room, skidding on the metal, grabbing Aerrow's arm and pulling him along as he spun to a stop.

"Aerrow," he took a deep breath, trying to come up with an excuse if he was wrong, "do you like Junko's cooking?"

"No, it disgusts me."

"Good, okay. Do you like my guitar playing?"

"Of course not Finn, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard and hurts my ears."

Ouch, that hurt. But now he knew for sure, the crystal had made Aerrow only able to tell the truth! Oh, he'd have fun with this! A smile spread across his lips, matching his leader's, but slightly more devious.

"Piper's not back yet Aerrow; come in with me for a second, there's something I want to get" he motioned toward the navigator's room.

"We, both of us, are not allowed in there Finn. Piper is not here to give us permission; she locks her door for a reason."

"And that reason is…?"

"To keep you and Junko and anyone who is not me, Stork or Radarr out."

Double ouch. He'd have to stop asking questions like these! But he also had a problem; Aerrow wouldn't let him in.

"Well…Piper did give me permission to go in today! She told me I could take one thing if I really needed it. I really need it!"

"I think you are lying, Finn."

"No really! Look," he pulled his first crystal from his pocket, "Piper even gave me this to let me in!"

Aerrow looked at the Blocker crystal, mind still shadowed with doubt. He compromised.

"I will go in and get this one thing for you Finn, if I think that Piper would ever let you have it and I will bring it back to you. But I do not know what 'thing' you want."

"Okay then Aerrow. You go in and get me the new recorder Piper just bought. She said that as long as I didn't fill it with nonsense I could use it."

Aerrow entered the room and came out a few minutes later with the recorder in hand, he handed it to Finn, smiling wide as ever.

"Excellent" Finn grinned mischievously, "Aerrow, can I ask you a few questions?"

Finn grabbed Aerrow by the wrist and dragged him back to the bridge, where the other guys were still standing around confused. Walking through the door, smiles on both faces, Finn announced that he knew what the crystal did.

"Guys, any questions you've ever wanted to ask Aerrow and get a straight answer, now's the time to ask. The crystal made it so that he can only tell the truth! Watch," he turned back to the still-painted spattered, still grinning redhead.

"Aerrow," he said, bracing himself emotionally, "if you had to choose between cleaning the bathroom on the _Condor_ for the next two years or listen to my music for the day, all day, which would you choose?"

"I would choose to clean the bathroom, Finn."

Stork was unfazed, "So? That's the logical choice for anyone. Maybe he just bumped his head when he fell."

Finn threw a 'yeah, whatever,' look at the pilot and racked his brains for a question that could prove that he was right. Coming up with nothing he turned to Junko, "Go ahead, ask him something!" He pulled out the recorder and set it up on the table, hit the record button.

"Um…" Junko thought hard, "do you like my food?" he finally asked.

Aerrow shook his head, "No. It makes me sick and most of the time your food is still alive or comes to life."

Junko gasped at this admission, his eyes tearing up, his bottom lip quivering.

"Oh, hey, wait a minute! I've got another question, Aerrow: where did Piper hide my guitar this time?" Finn piped up, looking expectantly at the Sky Knight.

Aerrow opened his mouth to answer.

"NO!" Stork yelled, jumping between the two boys and clamping his hand over Aerrow's mouth, "No, you can't tell him that!"

"I have to," Aerrow said, prying Stork's hand away and holding it down, "it's in the engine room Finn, by the back corner, under the big boiler."

"Ooh," Stork moaned, rubbing his hand over his eyes, "that's not good."

Finn scampered off to recover his lost treasure; Junko, Stork and Radarr all looked at each other, then at their compromised leader.

"Here's a question," Stork said after a minute, having accepted the horrors about to unfold anyway, "what are you most scared of our oh-so-fearless leader?"

"I'm most scared of any of you or my other friends dying."

"Aw," Junko said, new happy tears in his eyes this time, "come here!" He pulled Aerrow into a bone-crushing hug.

"It hurts!" Aerrow cried, for the first time letting his smile fall, to be replaced with a look of intense pain.

"Oops" Junko dropped him as Stork asked his second question,

"Okay then, what's your most _illogical_ fear?"

"Sometimes, I feel like people are watching me. Mostly on missions and sort of right now, only this time it's slightly different." _**(Get it?)**_

"Hmm, interesting," Stork opened his mouth for a third question as Finn burst into the room, strumming a loud, broken tune on his grease-stained guitar.

As the final chords faded and everyone unplugged their ears, Finn cried out his most brilliant question,

"Hey, Aerrow, do you love Piper?

"Perhaps."

"What does that mean?"

"I think she is wonderful as a person, and is especially skilled. She's nice and funny and beautiful and she doesn't hate me, I would do anything to save her…I think I love her."

Finn nodded, trying not to laugh or shout and dance; he had all of it on tape and with a few more sure-to-be-embarrassing confessions, he could hand the tape to Piper, sit back and watch events unfold. Either they'd kill him or they'd get together. If they killed him, he reasoned, at least he'd die satisfied; because they _would_ get together after killing him he was sure.

'_Aerrow and Piper sittin' in a tree…_' Finn sang in his head, mind focused on the not-so-distant future.

"So does that mean you're going to tell her?" Junko asked. He did a double take on the table, remembering his sandwich but almost forgetting his question. He reached out to take it, held it up to take a bite, thin streaks of blue paint dripping off the soggy bread.

"Gah!" Stork grabbed the Wallop's hand, shaking his head, expression horrified. He pointed to the paint. Junko paled, set the sandwich down as Aerrow answered.

"Of course not"

"Wait, what? Why not?"

"First, it's wrong; having a relationship as a Sky Knight could compromise the-"

"Yeah, yeah," Finn interrupted, "and the second reason?"

"I am too scared to tell her," despite his words, the empty, crystal-induced smile was creeping onto his face again.

"Well, then, would you ever _kiss_ Piper?" Finn opened his eyes wide, trying to look innocent.

"No, spreads germs, and in order to I would have had to tell her that I like her."

"Yes!" Stork whispered victoriously, "He actually listens to me!"

Finn groaned at his friend, "Help me Junko!"

The mechanic hesitated, "I don't know Finn, if Aerrow's too scared to tell Piper, I don't think he ever wanted us to know either."

Finn looked at the window, "Well we do now- hey, Piper's back!" he cried, spinning around and snatching the recorder off the table, rushing out of the room to put it back. He stopped at the door, flung the Blocker crystal back to Junko, "Fine then, if Piper can't know, fix Aerrow."

The door hissed shut behind him.

He stopped her outside her room, throwing his hand across the doorway. Finn sucked in a lungful of air, trying to make it look as if he wasn't out of breath from running there.

"So," he said pointing to two bulky bags she'd set down at her feet, "what cha got there?"

"Uh, just some Swarm crystals and all the parts I need to build my second containment chamber. What's up?"

Piper pulled her second Blocker crystal out of her pocket and aimed it at the door, "Excuse me Finn."

He stepped to the side and followed her in, carrying one of the bags for her. He set it down next to her desk, dodging through teetering piles of stuff to get there.

"Why are you building a second whatever chamber?"

"Because Finn, when you and Junko got infected with Agro-spores, we had to check the canister for clues as to what had happened to you. Stork was concerned that a few spores were still alive in the chamber so I got rid of it for him. Remember?"

"Oh," he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, "right."

Piper smiled, "It's okay Finn, and it's given me something to do, right? It'll take me a while; I don't have any written instructions left so I'm going to go by the ones I recorded verbally. Hey," she looked over at the desk, and then at the piles of junk everywhere, "where is my recorder anyway?"

Finn stiffened, looked around, pretending to search. He bent down, slipping the recorder out of his pocket and feigning reaching around the desk to grab it, "This thing?"

"Oh, thanks Finn. I was worried I'd have to look through all that" Piper swept a hand around her room. "I'm not usually this messy," she mused.

"Uh, well, great. See ya later!" Finn dove out of the room, leaving her to clean by herself.

Piper sighed, massaged her right temple with the corresponding hand and closing her eyes. She set to work picking up her various belongings and sorting them back to their proper places.

Aerrow threw his hands up to clutch at his head as the green aura around him faded away. He moaned, his face scrunched in pain, "Ow, what hit me?"

"Um," Stork slipped closer to the Sky Knight, hands clasped together and held at chest level, "you don't remember?" That would be bad.

"No, I- _Finn_!" Aerrow shouted, dropping his hands; he sidestepped away from Junko and Stork, left Radarr as the furry copilot scrambled onto his shoulder.

"Finn!" he shouted sounding both angry and desperate, he sprinted out of the room.

The sharpshooter stepped around a corner, crashed into Aerrow; he jumped back, shouting in surprise.

"Finn!" the redhead shouted again. He grabbed two handfuls of the other's shirt, pulling said terrified other closer to him, "What did you do? Where is it?"

Radarr jumped off his friend's shoulder, backing into the wall on the other side of the corridor, ready to intervene if need be.

"Where's…what?" choked out the blonde, pulling Aerrow's arms away.

"You know what! Where's the recorder, Finn?"

"Piper's…got it!"

Aerrow froze, the anger on his face melting into fear; he stepped back a pace, staring at a nothing spot on the wall a small distance away.

"I'll throw you into the Wastelands, Finn, if you let Piper find out" he threatened, and took off running down the hall again towards the navigator's room.

"I hope the Junko stopped the truth crystal, 'cause if he didn't I'm in so much trouble" the sharpshooter said to himself, one hand covering half his face he slid the hand off, as if trying to rub off the stress. He noticed Radarr standing there,

"But, if it works, at least they'll regret it after a while, and thank me" he swaggered back to the bridge, satisfied.

Aerrow hesitated outside Piper's door, trying to control his breathing, trying not to think that maybe she'd already listened to the tape. He stepped forward, the door opened. Leaning against the edge of the door as he usually would, Aerrow looked around. Piper was on her hands and knees, sorting and replacing a pile of books in her bookcase.

"Uh, hey, can I help?" he asked.

Piper looked up, startled, "Oh, hey Aerrow. Thanks for offering but…"

"Everything's got a proper place, right?"

She grinned sheepishly.

"That's okay," he eyed the desk, the recorder lying in the middle. He walked over, "So, did you get everything you needed?"

Piper went back to her books, "Oh yeah and a little extra. I…"

He tuned her out, though he felt a small rush of shame for doing so, and concentrated solely on her concentration. As Piper bent down toward the bookcase, maneuvering a thick volume into the tiny remaining space while still talking, he leaned a little to the side, grabbed the recorder and jammed it into the pocket of his uniform.

Piper looked up, "Aerrow, were you listening to me?"

"Oh? Yeah sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said I'm going to start building my second containment chamber soon and I was wondering if you'd like to help."

"Um, sure. Maybe. But, uh, I have to go…Sky Knight stuff…and Starling and…y'know…bye!"

He almost ran out of the room.

He knew he was a horrible liar, and if Piper truly believed him he'd be amazed…or maybe happy. He only hoped she wouldn't be too suspicious.

He stopped a few corridors away and leaned heavily against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor. He'd stolen from Piper! He'd _lied_ to Piper!

That doesn't matter now, he told himself.

_Yes it does!_

Stop it! Just erase the tape and put it back; Piper won't ever have to know about any of this.

Aerrow pulled his knees up to his chin, wrapped his arms around his legs and looked down at the recorder in his hands. Oh no. He had no idea how to work this thing. Obviously the big green button with the power symbol at the top started the recording, but everything else…

Maybe Radarr knew? Stork did of course, and Finn, unfortunately, but he'd rather not ask Stork. Finn was out of the question.

He jumped to his feet and hurried to the bridge. The door slid open and everyone turned to stare at him (at least Piper wasn't there); he ignored Finn and searched around for Radarr. Spotting his friend back at his game of solitaire, he ran over and whispered in his ear. Radarr abandoned his game and clambered onto Aerrow's shoulder; they left, heads held high, Radarr whacking Finn in the face with his tail as they headed for their room.

"So?" Aerrow moved closer, sliding along his bed toward the desk where Radarr sat poking at the tape recorder, "Can you erase that part?"

Radarr poked the recorded one last time, causing it to fall over, before turning to answer. He looked around at his best friend, eyes wide and apologetic, ears drooping, and shook his head.

"No?" Aerrow hung his head, "Thanks for trying Radarr. Maybe, she won't notice it's missing…or I could suggest it was accidentally thrown overboard?"

He looked up, "Radarr, I hate lying to her, but if she heard _anything_- we can't erase the full tape. Not yet."

Aerrow stood and picked up the recorder from the desk. He looked around for a moment before slipping the cursed piece of technology under his pillow; he'd find a better spot later.

Then he left Radarr to tag along behind him, and headed for the bridge with full intent to find a spot near the sharpshooter and glare at him until he squirmed. If Aerrow had to live with the guilt of lying to Piper and (sort of) stealing from her, Finn was going to suffer likewise, or eventually worse.

He was sitting at the round table on the bridge, across from the half-dried paint (no way _he_ was going to scrub _that _off) when Aerrow came in, Radarr on his shoulders. The Sky Knight's initial expression looked devastated but when his eyes came to meet Finn's he scowled. Radarr mirrored the boy's expression as he slipped down to the floor and crept off to the kitchen. Aerrow took a few steps sideways out the way of the door before simply leaning back against the wall. He folded his arms across his chest and just glared. Finn couldn't hold his eyes; he turned back to the deck of cards spread out across the table. Doing his best to ignore the prickling on the back of his neck he picked each card up one by one before starting to arrange them in different rows. He'd laid two suits out, hearts and spades, shivering occasionally from the intensity of Aerrow's glare when the bridge door slid open again.

Piper walked in, looking extremely confused, "Has anyone seen my recorder?"

She turned to Finn, "You found it, didn't you? In my room?"

His eyes widened slightly, and his gaze slid past the navigator to steal a glace at Aerrow. The Sky Knight had frozen, tensed as if about to run. Turning his attention back to Piper Finn shook his head stiffly, shrugging.

The navigator looked around to Aerrow, "You were in my room, did you see it?"

"No," he said. As soon as Piper had gone, presumably to the kitchen to ask Junko, Aerrow bolted.

Finn slumped in defeat. This was getting out of hand, but what was he supposed to do?

Aerrow barely made it through his door without smashing his head off the top as it slid open. As it was, he flinched and staggered into the room, and over to his bed. Slipping a hand under his pillow, he pulled out the infernal recording device.

Why? Why was this happening to him? Why did Finn have to go and screw up everything, ruin his just-sort-of-slightly-past-friendship with Piper?

He sighed and dropped onto his bed, resting his elbow in his knee and holding his head in his hand. Green eyes slowly found their way to the yellow button that would erase the entire tape. His thumb twitched toward the tiny plastic square.

No. He couldn't do that to her. But would it be any better than not letting her have the device back at all? At least then Piper would be able to record new things and he wouldn't ever have to worry about her finding out anything about this afternoon.

There was a sudden hiss and the click of high heels on metal as the door of his room slid open. With all of his Sky Knight reflexes coming into play, Aerrow whipped his hand behind his back, hoping against all hope-

"What was that, Aerrow?"

-that Piper hadn't seen anything.

"Is that my recorder?"

"Um," he hesitated, and in his mind, he counted over the number of buttons until he was sure he'd found the yellow one…but he couldn't do it. All her hard work…

"No, it was…um, the radio receiver…it's…glitching again."

Piper leaned her weight on one foot and crossed her arms over her chest, "Aerrow."

"It is!" He couldn't meet her eyes.

"Show me your hand, Aerrow."

He lifted his left hand, holding it open to show there was nothing there. He gave her a tentative smile, "See, nothi-"

"The other hand, Aerrow," the navigator demanded, "and keep that hand where I can see it."

He dropped the recorder onto the bed behind him, out of her line of vision, and held both hands up in a gesture of surrender. Piper stepped forward, trying to see behind him, her arms falling down to her sides as she did so.

Aerrow grabbed behind him, snatching up the recorder and clenching it tightly and safely in his hand. He shook his head frantically, "I don't have it!"

"Aerrow," Piper came right up to him and leaned over him, trying to reach over to get at his hand. He leaned backward, crushing his hand against the hard plastic of the recorder,

"I don't have it! Please, Piper!"

She grabbed his arm, "You do!" she accused, tugging hard, trying to free his hand.

Her foot suddenly slipped on the metal floor and she fell forward with a faint, "Oof," landing on top of him. Aerrow gasped at the pressure of suddenly finding her lying across his chest.

"Piper!"

But she didn't get up; she lifted herself onto her elbows and resumed tugging on his arm.

"Aerrow, I know you have that recorder, give it to me!"

"Piper, no," even if he could have got his hand free, he definitely wasn't handing it over to her. His cheeks were burning like someone had pressed an active cooking crystal to his face, and he didn't want know how they'd feel if she ever found out exactly why.

He pushed upward, lifting most of her slight weight off of himself and rolled them to the side, so he was partly on top of her. Holding her down by the shoulder with one hand, he reached across the bed, out of her field of view and dropped the recorder between the comforter and the wall. It caught on the blanket and hung there, waiting.

Then Aerrow looked down at the girl lying slightly dazed beneath him. She stared up accusingly,

"I know you took it Aerrow."

As he shook his head again, his eyes shielding his pain, Piper shoved him off and stood up. She straightened her shirt with an angry jerk and glared resentfully at him, and then she turned and stamped out of the room.

Finn was just about at the door to Aerrow's room when it opened and Piper stepped out.

"You know, I can _make_ you tell me! I have crystals that can do that," she shouted into the room before storming off toward her own.

"Piper, wait!" Aerrow called after her, running to catch up.

Finn stared, eyes wide. Fighting? He hadn't meant for this to happen. They were supposed to get together, or kill him and get together, but not fight. He'd rather be thrown to Cyclonia than have Piper and Aerrow be acting like this; he took off after them.

Piper was pushing Aerrow out of her room by the time he caught up, her finger jabbing into his chest, glaring up and him, screeching.

"My Truth crystal isn't in there anymore and I know for a fact it was when I left this morning! Where is it, Aerrow? Did you steal that too?"

"Piper, I-"

"What, you didn't want me to use it on you, to find out you really _did_ steal my recorder? You wanted to be able to lie to me about it? Tell me, how many times have you lied to me before? Huh? How many? I _trusted_ you! I _trusted_ you, Aerrow, and you _lied _to me and _stole_ from me!"

"No, I-"

"_Liar!_"

"Please! Finn took-"

"Don't you _dare_ try to pin this on him! Finn may have his faults be he would _never_, in a million years, have the audacity to _steal_ from me!"

"Piper-"

"That's _it!_ Get out of my room Aerrow and get out my sight! I don't ever want to talk to you again! Go!"

"Please…"

"GO!"

As he stepped back his face was mixture of shocked horror and pain, but as he turned and continued down the hall his expression fell into a stoic mask. Piper seemed frozen for a minute, watching him leave and then turned and stepped back into her room, eyes watery, face screwed up with determination not to cry.

Finn stood stock still in the hallway, mouth hanging open in disbelief, eyes wide, worried. How could he fix this now? If he told the truth Piper would end up hating _him_…but if he didn't she'd continue to hate _Aerrow_…

Why did he ever think there wouldn't be consequences to going into Piper's room?

* * *

_**How many of you would kill me if I left it here?**_

_**Well, suffer fools 'cause I am!**_

_**No, I'm kidding, that's a terrible thing to do. **_

_**There'll be another part…hopefully in the next few months to a year, but definitely within the next 5 years...maybe ;)**_


	3. Part Two

_***gets stabbed with Whisper's pitchfork***_

_**I'm sorry! **_

_**And to think, this started out as me trying to write humor! **_

* * *

It was later. How much later he didn't know, but it was definitely later.

His head ached and his stomach flipped and his mouth felt dry.

It was _very_ quiet on the _Condor_. Only the soft humming of the engine and the steady dripping of leaky pipes filled the tense silence.

Finn stared blankly at the soldered metal tiles of his ceiling as he lay on his bed, his mind chasing itself in circles.

What to do, what to do?

He had two, terrible, horrible options before him.

Option one: he would have to gather his courage and go to Piper, confess that he was the one who'd gone into her room and took not only the recorder but her Truth crystal as well. Then he'd suffer her wrath immediately, and afterwards Aerrow's, and then the rest of their team's. Then he might even be kicked off the Storm Hawks.

Option two: he could let things continue as they were and stay out of harm's way for the moment. But doing so would also keep Piper's anger directed at Aerrow, and their fight would continue. It would destroy their friendship and their team. The Storm Hawks could fall apart and then they'd all be left with nothing again.

The sharpshooter closed his eyes, and rubbed his forehead with his hands. He groaned and felt the sudden, overpowering urge to move, to escape the small confines of his bunk.

He rolled off his bed and quietly walked to the door. The hiss as it opened seemed too loud in the overbearing silence and he flinched. But no one was in the hallway.

Finn stepped into the corridor and looked around: empty.

He made his way slowly to the bridge, walking with his shoulders tensed and his arms held up to his chest, ready to strike at anything that moved. But the bridge was empty also. Everyone must still be in their rooms, he thought.

The paint and Aerrow's half-finished model were still on the table, left as they had been when he'd stood up and gotten hit with the Truth crystal, when this had all started.

Finn slipped into a seat at the round table and poked dejectedly at the dried paint. He wished he could go back in time and slap himself silly at his first thought of sneaking into Piper's room.

"You're not going to tell her, are you?"

He jumped at the sudden sound. He hadn't heard the door opening. Turning around, Finn's blue eyes met with Stork's black ones. They stared for another moment or so, until Finn couldn't bare it any longer and let his eyes drop, his face screwing up in pain.

"I didn't think so," the pilot said, as he continued toward the ship's controls.

There was an infinite stretch of very loud silence until,

"I don't know," Finn whispered to the Merb's back, before climbing to his feet.

Stork stopped him at the door, half in the bridge, half out.

"He's not doing so good," he said, keeping his back to the sharpshooter as he steered the _Condor_ out into open sky, "I've never seen him like that before. Well, still haven't really, but I heard him…"

Finn wondered if it was on some instinct that he said 'he' instead of 'Aerrow,' or some backwards kind of way to keep the Sky Knight's pride intact, but it didn't matter.

"And she's not doing so well either. Better than he is at least, but once the anger cools down they'll be about the same."

"I feel terrible enough as it is. Why are you telling me this?" his voice was steady, but at the same time quiet and hopeless.

Stork turned around and simply looked at him, not glaring, but his eyes were piercing, holding him frozen, "So you'll make the right choice," he said.

Finn wandered slowly through the maze of hallways on the _Condor_, paying no attention to where he was heading, just letting his feet lead him on. He had more important things to worry about then where he was going.

Like: how could he fix this now? And: was there an option that didn't lead to total disaster for someone?

He sighed and shook his head, which he seemed to be doing a lot lately, but what else was he supposed to do to show how hopeless he felt? He groaned instead, and stopped short when it echoed back. Taking a better look around, Finn noticed he was in the hangar.

Shuffling miserably across the large, murky, empty space, he sat on his skimmer and bashed his head between the handlebars. His mind was running in circles: Why? What could he do now? Why did he have to…?

A sharp, wet intake of breath snapped him into awareness. Finn looked around, and froze when he saw Aerrow in the doorway. The Sky Knight had whipped his head to the side when Finn had looked up, and seemed determined to pretend he didn't exist.

Finn couldn't get a good look at his face from this angle, but somehow Aerrow looked different. Was there red around his eyes?

"Aerrow?" Finn quietly tried to get his attention, even though half of him protested trying to speak to him this early. But the Sky Knight ignored him, walking silently, albeit too quickly, to his skimmer, grabbing a small red toolbox on the way. He remained silent as he deftly removed a wrench and began working on the wing of his ride.

Finn stood up slowly, creeping timidly across the hangar, "Aerrow?"

Aerrow paused, his hand sort of hovering near the frame of his skimmer, but he didn't turn around. Finn stopped a few feet away, just out of wrench range, and took a deep breath.

"Aerrow, I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't think this would happen. It was supposed to be a joke, honest. I never meant for-"

He stopped when he saw Aerrow shaking. Was he crying? Argh, why couldn't he make anything better!

Finn was about to put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, was about to apologize again, when he noticed the clenched fists and tensed back. So Aerrow wasn't crying, he was angry? Finn took his cue and left, he didn't want to challenge Aerrow's restraint right now.

Instead he went to Junko. Junko was a compassionate guy, he'd know what to do, he'd have advice. Finn knocked quietly on the mechanic's door, though the sound seemed to vibrate through the entire ship. Junko opened the door pretty quickly, as eager to not upset the delicate 'peace' as Finn was, and ushered his friend inside.

Finn stood in front of the closet packed to bursting with a strange assortment of metal objects while Junko stood nervously on the other side of the room.

"Hey Finn," the Wallop said, attempting a smile, even though he looked as if he'd rather not have Finn in the room with him at the moment.

"I don't know what to do, Junko," he moaned, hands moving to pull at his hair, "Piper hates Aerrow, and Aerrow hates me, and both of them are fighting and it's all my fault!"

"Woah, buddy," Junko gently pried the other's hands off his head, "calm down."

"How can I calm down? I don't know what to do! This wasn't supposed to happen! It was a prank! It was just a stupid joke! And now they're fighting and I'm going to be kicked off the Storm Hawks!"

"No, Finn! Aerrow and Piper will sort this out, they just need time. And nobody wants you gone! I don't, you're my best friend." Junko scooped Finn into a tight hug, not a bone crushing hug like usual, but a nice little squeeze to show he cared.

Finn's eyes looked a little watery anyway, but that might not have been the hug.

"Thanks Junko. But what do I do? How- how do I tell Piper that _I_ took her crystal? You didn't hear her, she sounded really upset. And she said she trusts me. She even used this really big word that I don't get…"

Finn looked up at his giant friend, "What do I say?"

Junko looked thoughtful for a minute, his own concerns about team dynamics breaking forgotten as he concentrated on helping his friend. Finally he shrugged, "Just tell her the truth. The whole truth."

"And nothing but the truth?" Finn quietly attempted the joke, nervously kicking his shoe against the floor as he mentally prepared for what he had to do.

The joke went right over Junko's head as the Wallop gave a reassuring pat on Finn's shoulder, sending him stumbling into the door, "Oops, sorry!"

"Heh," Finn rubbed the back of his head, wincing as he left, looking back at Junko for reassurance. Junko nodded, smiling, and gave him the thumbs up. Finn didn't make it over the threshold; suddenly his own voice was everywhere.

"_I've got another question, Aerrow: where did Piper hide my guitar this time?" _

"What?" Finn looked around nervously. Who had the recorder now? No one was in the hallway, and it suddenly hit him that the tape was being broadcast over the comm. system!

"_No, you can't tell him that!"_

"_I have to: it's in the engine room Finn, by the back corner, under the big boiler."_

Oh no! This was terrible! Piper would hear Aerrow confess, and then Aerrow would get upset and then-

Wait, this could work. If Piper heard the tape, she'd know he'd taken the recorder and the crystal, but she'd also know why Aerrow had stolen the recorder again. She'd get the full story. Aerrow was being a wimp anyway; Piper should know he liked her. But who would broadcast the tape?

Finn twisted nervously to share a nervous, confused glance with Junko, before he took off running for the bridge. The only ones not involved in this were Junko, Stork, and Radarr. If Junko was with him, that left Stork and Radarr. Stork didn't have a motive but Radarr would do anything to help Aerrow.

"_Okay then, what's your most _illogical_ fear?" _

"_Sometimes, I feel like people are watching me. Mostly on missions and sort of right now, only this time it's slightly different." _

Did he want the tape to stop? Finn couldn't decide, but he was running out of time either way. He rounded one last corner and slid through the open bridge door; Piper was already there, her face a mixture of confusion, anger, and curiosity, as she stared up at the nearest speaker. As Finn walked farther into the otherwise empty bridge, Junko only a step behind him, Aerrow emerged from a different door. The expression on the Sky Knight's face was almost identical to Piper's; the only difference was nervousness in place of anger.

A hard guitar riff suddenly filled the _Condor_ before fading into Finn's voice,

"_Hey, Aerrow, do you love Piper?_

Aerrow looked ready to faint, his face was blending in with his hair, and he had to lean against the wall for support. His eyes flickered to Piper's face: she was looking at him too, her expression unreadable.

"_Perhaps."_

Piper seemed to flinch a bit, but didn't take her eyes from Aerrow's.

"_What does that mean?"_

"_I think she is wonderful as a person, and is especially skilled. She's nice and funny and beautiful and she doesn't hate me, I would do anything to save her…I think I love her."_

Aerrow's face did a one-eighty, suddenly draining of all the blood until he was white as a ghost. He gulped and stared fixedly at a rivet in the floor.

"Aerrow?" Piper's voice split the sudden silence.

He refused to look up at her. That is, until he felt her nudge his hand. Her eyes looked kind of wet, and her smile seemed a little wobbly, but she didn't look disgusted or pitying as he'd feared.

"Is this why you took the recorder?" she asked quietly, in a voice devoid of anger.

He nodded, eyes still searching her face nervously.

"Oh, Aerrow, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have blamed you, or yelled at you like that without knowing the full story! I'm so sorry!"

She threw her arms around his neck, and sobbed into the Sky Knight's shoulder, continuing to mumble apologies as her tried to return them, looking slightly out of place.

Finn jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He'd been too absorbed in watching Aerrow's and Piper's reactions that he hadn't heard the door hiss open behind him. Stork pulled him back slightly and whispered in his ear,

"You owe me big time."

"You did that?" Finn spun around to face the pilot. Radarr was perched on the Merb's shoulder, and both of them looked proud of themselves.

"Mostly," Stork admitted, "but you still need to apologize."

Finn winced, and turned back to look at Aerrow and Piper, who were pulling out of their hug.

Piper leaned back, wiping her eyes, slightly embarrassed. But she whispered, "Me too," smiling up at Aerrow.

"Um?" Finn was suddenly behind the navigator, standing just past an arm's length away, nudging the floor with his booted toe.

"I just wanna say I'm sorry, to both of you. I shouldn't have gone in your room, Piper, and I shouldn't have used you like that, Aerrow. I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear! Well, this part I did," he gestured to their still clasped hands, suddenly gaining his old swagger and then losing it in the same breath. "Please don't kick me off the team!"

Two pairs of eyebrows shot up. "Kick you off the team?" they asked in unison, "What would give you that idea?"

"I dunno…"

"But," Aerrow dropped Piper's hand, and stepped closer to Finn, grinning mischievously, "I do remember promising to throw you overboard if you let Piper find out, and well…" he shrugged.

"Heh…w-well I didn't play the tape…"

"Sorry Finn, but a promise is a promise," Aerrow gestured to something behind Finn and suddenly the blonde was lifted clean off his feet as large, four fingered hands wrapped around his upper arms.

"Junko! Put me down!"

Aerrow led the way to the hangar, Stork staying to open the bay doors, with Junko carrying Finn behind him, and Piper and Radarr bringing up the rear.

The Sky Knight stopped at the edge of the landing strip, "Right here's good, Junko."

The Wallop dropped Finn in an undignified heap, and stepped back with the others, grinning. Finn scrambled to his feet, eyes wide as he stared disbelievingly at Aerrow.

"You wouldn't really?" Finn squeaked.

"No? Are ya sure, Finn? You don't think I could get revenge?" Aerrow was grinning ear to ear, though he tried to cover it and act serious as he talked.

Finn leaned forward the tiniest bit and peered over the edge at the rolling clouds beneath the ship, "You couldn't-!"

Aerrow shoved hard, sending the blonde spinning through the air. He shrieked like a little girl as he fell, and the other Storm Hawks laughed the last of the tension out of their bodies.

"Sooo…" Aerrow turned to look at Piper, "I should probably go get him…"

"Yeah," she agreed, stepping forward.

Aerrow hesitantly leaned toward her, and tentatively pecked the girl on the cheek. Then he spun and dove off the runway, face red, but grinning, to go save his sharpshooter.

* * *

_**So? **__**I like it.**_

_**Limited romance is the best romance, WHAHA!**_

_**Now, I'm gonna go find something for my pitchfork wounds.**_

_**Cheers!**_


End file.
